


Sins of the Father

by Vituperative_cupcakes



Category: Breaking Bad
Genre: Gen, Reunions, WAFF, big brother Jesse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 21:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3952225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vituperative_cupcakes/pseuds/Vituperative_cupcakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skyler White decides the best of her husband resides in his children.</p><p>All of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sins of the Father

_Albuquerque, 2015_

 

The playground gleamed in the June sun. Holly took off the second her mother let go of her hand, racing to monopolize the seesaw-like structure that had replaced the centrifuge. Her footsteps tossed up waves of faux-bark tire chunks as she ran.

Skyler sat on a bench and lit a cigarette.

Holly wove in and out of the other children's playtime, running full forward with an energy that never abated, shouting and screaming and carefree.

The man that suddenly appeared at the edge of the playground wavered, as if on the edge of being. He had grown a beard, and was slightly thicker through the middle now. A plain gold band sat on the fat of his finger. He wore an apprehensive look as he approached Sky, an expression that only lasted until Holly barreled into his legs screaming: “unc'a Jesse!”

“Hey, Holly-bear!”

The smile took the premature years from his face as he picked her up, dangled her upside-down for a heartbeat, and then righted her again. As he did so, he glanced at Skyler as if for approval. Skyler's expression did not change.

“Gotcha something.” Jesse handed over a package. Holly tore it open like a wolf at a caribou, and found a plastic cage with a magnifying-glass top.

“You can put your bugs in there,” Jesse said, stooping to show her, “and you look at it through this little magnifying glass, see? And if any of the other kids give you crap, you can open it and throw bugs on 'em.”

Holly crowed and hugged him, and Jesse looked as if he had been the one to receive the gift instead. As Holly ran away, hair flying like white-gold cornsilk, he approached the bench where Sky sat.

“She's...just beautiful,” he said, not daring to look at Sky now that he was next to her, “just smart and gorgeous and everything. Bet her big brother has to beat the boys away with a stick.”

Sky blew a plume of smoke.

“But I guess that's what big brothers are supposed to do. Protect.” Jesse took a slow breath. “it's a little light this time. With Saul out of the picture I can't—”

Sky waved him quiet.

Holly had mounted the top of the monkey-bars, now she dangled upside-down by her knees.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse said, “you prob'ly have better things to do than see me.”

Skyler spoke her first words of the morning: “not necessarily.”

Jesse did not know how to take that.

They distracted themselves by watching Holly arm-over-arm down the geodesic dome of bars and run squealing to the slides.

“How's–how's Flint?”

“Flynn.”

“Right. He hittin' the books hard?”

“He's enrolled in the science program at UNM.”

“Not chemistry I hope.” Jesse's grin slackened. “sorry, I mean–”

“He's interested in marine biology,” Skyler said smoothly, “wants to go to the Galapagos sometime.”

“Wow that's—like that Darwin guy?” Jesse fidgeted, eyes on Holly as she shrugged off a fall into the rubber bark. "I bet he's really—"

“So what do you tell Nikki?” Skyler turned to face him. “where do you tell her you go?

Jesse shrank slightly under her gaze. “I tell her I'm meeting my aunt.”

Skyler let out a huff that might have been a laugh.

“Well, she's met my mom...once. Anyway, I had a good run of aunts.”

Skyler smiled very slightly.

Jesse flicked his ring with his thumb, gaze lowered.

“I'm sorry,” he said, “I guess seeing me must just remind you of him...you could probably do without that.”

Skyler leaned forward. “I get reminded of Walt every time I look in my children's faces. You're not that much of an extra weight.”

Jesse winced when she spoke Walt's name. “Sorry, ma'am.”

“Don't call me ma'am. You make me feel old.”

“Milf?”

Sky snort-chuckled. Jesse smiled too, a little. He gestured to her hand. “You smoking again?”

Skyler raised her eyebrow, daring a challenge.

“Can I have one?”

Skyler retrieved the pack from her purse. Holly ran by, waving, and the two adults on the bench waved back in unison. Skyler tapped out a cigarette and Jesse accepted it. He lit it and blew smoke in the opposite direction of Sky.

They sat and smoked for a few minutes, not saying anything, just watching Holly as she rappelled from one playset to another.

“Mrs—Skyler,” Jesse blurted, “for what it's worth, the best of your husband? I think he left it in your kids.”

And Skyler took in Jesse's lined face, his trembling hands and teary eyes, the way he winced whenever Holly jolted into another child on the playground.

“Yes,” she said simply.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I think I needed this more than anything else. I needed Jesse to have a happy ending, and I needed Skyler to forgive him for being involved in the business. Someone(can't remember who, sorry) said it best: Flynn is Walter's son, Jesse is _Heisenberg's_ son. And I just really fell in love with the idea of Jesse being a great big brother to Holly, encouraging her science stuff because that's what her dad would've done and Skyler recognizing the connection Jesse had to her husband and i can't keep writing this note because something's in my eye....


End file.
